The Four Color Media Monitor

Hollywood actor Sebastian Stan, who played Bucky Barnes in the Marvel film franchise, and who's clearly quite a leftist, was interviewed by Gentleman's Quarterly UK (via Variety), primarily regarding his latest film, The Apprentice, which Donald Trump's hopefully still suing over, because it depicts him as a rapist without any solid evidence. But Stan's also opportunistically attacked detractors of the Marvel movies, and he said, quite rudely:

...Marvel, the world’s highest-grossing movie franchise of all time, has faced quite a bit of criticism in recent years – in part for the way in which they’ve handled the transition to a new set of heroes and storylines since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Stan doesn’t have any time for it. “I’ve never been part of a company that puts so much heart and thought into anything,” he says. “I think if Marvel was gone, it’d be such a big hole to try and fill up. Don’t just go out there and shit on something without offering something better.”

He’s certainly not done with the MCU yet. Thunderbolts, which he’ll headline alongside Florence Pugh, will arrive in May next year. And he’s already looking beyond that, to a potential reunion with Robert Downey Jr, who has been announced to return in the next Avengers movie – not as Iron Man, but as the villain Doctor Doom. “I hope I’m in a scene with him,” Stan says. “Is there any other guy that could pull that off? I don’t know, probably not. After Tropic Thunder, is there anything that guy can’t do?” he says, laughing. It is perhaps the movie that I least expect Stan – or anyone, to be honest – to reference in 2024, but I should know better. Downey Jr is a transformation master, too. Game recognises game.

Trump doesn’t exist in the Marvel universe – or at least not yet – but if you spot a hint of him in Thunderbolts, you’ll know why. “I went off to Marvel after [The Apprentice],” Stan says. “And we were doing scenes, and I would do something, a thing or two, and be like, ‘Fuck! This is still living somewhere.’”

I won't be shocked if the upcoming Thunderbolts film does have some kind of attack, subtle, metaphorically or otherwise, on Trump, which'll only compound an already horribly woke direction the franchise has been going in for at least a few years now. If Martin Scorsese's recent film, Killers of the Flower Moon, was PC, it is valid to say you have to offer something better if they aren't. But it's wrong to be so vulgar and foul-mouthed about it as Stan's doing. Does he really think he's improving a dire situation in Hollywood when they're imploding artistically? Sorry, but no. The point to be made is that neither major nor minor studios in Hollywood are delivering much that's tour de force these days, due to all the wokeness both are capable of turning out. Eventually, it will bring down Hollywood, and comicdom. Too bad most of the actors playing the superheroes and their co-stars don't have what it takes to admit what's going wrong.

Labels: Avengers, Captain America, history, Iron Man, marvel comics, msm propaganda, politics

Rolling Stone interviewed Def Leppard's Phil Collen, who's now producing a GN titled Hysteria, and identifies as the umpteenth supporter of darkness in entertainment:

When Phil Collen was growing up in London in the 1960s, comic books weren’t as popular as they were in the U.S. But the Def Leppard guitarist was a fan anyway. “Some of the news agents would sell these American comics, and I used to just load up on them,” the 66-year-old tells Rolling Stone via phone from his California home. “I’ve actually got The Silver Surfer No. 1. I’ve still got The Incredible Hulk No. 3 and early Batman stuff, all from the Sixties.”

Although he’s admittedly not an ardent comics fan now and hasn’t followed any recent titles, Collen latched onto the art form recently when Vault Comics asked him if he’d like to make a title of his own. Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz had created a graphic novel for them, which Collen enjoyed, but he had other ideas of how it could be done. The guitarist explained that he been writing his own “really dark short stories” lately. “Before you knew it, I’m talking to the writer [Eliot Rahal], and I’d come up with a plot and a plan, and we just kind of expanded on that,” he says.

Now Vault is releasing Hysteria: The Graphic Novel, a book that shares its title with Def Leppard’s magnum opus but little else. Instead, it tells the story of indie rocker, Foz, who fronts a band called Darkside. When she inherits her late father’s estate, she rediscovers a guitar he owned when she was little. Eventually, the instrument begins speaking to her with promises of fame and fortune and she learns the instrument’s true history, part of which is revealed in the graphic novel’s first pages above, premiering here, and hysteria ensues.

So again, no Superman mentioned here. And hysteria's not much better a direction to emphasize than darkness, which he already indicates he's okay with. Wow, how is it these "artistes" get so infatuated with the angle of darkness, basically parroting almost everyone else who does it, and following their lead? It's hugely regrettable.

As revealed in the first few pages of Hysteria, the story gets bloody pretty quickly. What attracts you to writing about darker subjects?

The world is a fairly dark place, and human beings are not that complicated. You look at history, social things, or politics, and it’s always been exactly the same. People fall at the first hurdle or the shiny things, like celebrity, power, or money, and stuff. The story’s always the same. It’s just a very interesting way to dress up in different things. I remember reading the early Stephen King books, like The Shining, and I was fascinated by the darkness. My favorite movie is Alien, the very first one that’s kind of right up there. Shawshank Redemption is great. They’re all fairly dark. The interest comes from growing up and loving the cult of horror movies.

As expected, he adds in all the choice words for gushing how great darkness and the horror thriller genre are. And only makes clear what a bad influence they can actually be. I may have seen 2 or 3 movies adapted from King's writings (Cujo, The Running Man), but in hindsight, he's one of the most overrated writers of all time, and hasn't made things any better with some of his more recent manuscripts either. But "fairly" dark? It's worse than that.

What inspired the music of the punk band Darkside in the Hysteria graphic novel?

Basically, it’s a three-piece punk band that gets really popular, and they go through these changes. The music we’re recording, I don’t know if it’s going to be an EP, an LP, or whatever, but it starts off very aggressive, very Pistols-esque or kind of like L7. They’re kind of nasty and they’re pissed off, and it’s all of these things. They’re just post-teen, so they’ve still got this anger and rage and everything, so that comes through.

As they get more successful, the music starts changing. It gets a little more refined. It progresses into a cool, commercial thing, because the more they get into this thing with this possessed guitar, success pushes them a bit further, so the songs start changing. That’s a whole new different project on that as well.

I hope that's an indication the story will turn more towards optimism, but Mr. Collen's standings aren't likely to change regarding the horror genre and darkness, which means that for all we know, he may continue to develop more comic projects that'll rely on the themes, and for all we know, his approach in the forseeable future won't change much, if at all. Too bad. The comedy genre's been so badly marginalized, and one might think a musician would consider humor a valid source of creativity. Which is why it's a shame Collen won't clearly distinguish himself.

Labels: Europe and Asia, indie publishers, msm propaganda

The John Hopkins News Letter wrote about Baltimore's recent 25th comics convention, which features both old and new products, and says:

The first day of the Comic-Con was likely geared towards comic collectors, an insight shared by my FYS professor, Anna Celenza. Many Friday participants were interested in browsing the huge boxes of thin 1900s comics that were located next to the entrance. The majority of these comics were classic Marvel and DC Comics superhero stories, each comic ranging in price from $1 to a few hundred for rarer editions.

They certainly had the audacity to offer a lot of older items from a time when talented writing and art were more a priority. Of course, those looking for these treasures of the past century would do well to remember many of them are available in paperback and hardcover now, or on the way to being reprinted, especially if we take the Marvel Epic Collections as an example. This can enable one to gather a lot of storylines almost complete. Still, I'll admit that if any pamphlets were being sold for just a dollar apiece, that's certainly being kind.

When looking around, I found that there weren’t as many Comic-Con goers as I thought there would be. The lack of participants can likely be attributed to two factors: First, as it was Friday, many people probably had school or work, and second, all of the cosplay competitions and more engaging events were scheduled to occur on Saturday or Sunday. However, the absence of a crowd did mean that my classmates and I were able to hang around each stand for a long period of time, talking to and learning from the artists and writers manning them.

On this, what if it turns out the reason there weren't so many visitors is because wokeness discouraged pop culture fans, not to mention the price of tickets, which, according to them, is $30-40? That's nothing to sneeze at. Especially if it's just for one day.

I found myself surprised by the sheer variety of art and merchandise offered. I had anticipated exclusively older comics and that the event would pander towards the older comic reading generation. Instead, there was a wide range of comics and graphic novels that covered both old and more contemporary topics. As such, the artists and crowd, too, were quite diverse in age.

I wish they'd actually give a description of what kind of GNs and other comics were available, because what if it turned out they were politically motivated propaganda? And why don't they tell what kind of artists attended? As a result, this appears to be one more superficial form of "coverage" that posits more questions than answers. And didn't they say there weren't as many attendants as they thought? That's why it may not amount to much that the crowd they did find was allegedly "diverse in age".

So all this does is provide an example of how college papers continue to be unreliable, and much too superficial.

Labels: conventions, dc comics, history, marvel comics, msm propaganda

Variety interviewed animator Akihiko Yamashita for the 20th anniversary of Howl's Moving Castle, and what it was like working for Hayao Miyazaki, whose Studio Ghibli was recently sold off to a TV corporation:

Yamashita first worked with animation maestro Hayao Miyazaki as a key animator on 2001’s “Spirited Away.” Over the past 20-plus years, he has served various roles on Studio Ghibli films, including as an assistant supervising animator on “Ponyo” (2008) and a key animator on “The Wind Rises” (2013) and “The Boy and the Heron” (2023).

Yamashita recalls working 14 hours a day on “Howl’s Moving Castle” during the last six months of production, noting that there were “no Sundays” nor “time off during the week.” However, after Miyazaki’s film was complete, the supervising animator received three months of paid leave.

“I realized that I could only do this because I was in my 30s in those days,” Yamashita says. “I wouldn’t be able to do that now at all.”

Based on Dianna Wynne Jones’ 1986 fantasy novel of the same name, “Howl’s Moving Castle” follows a young milliner named Sophie, who is magically transformed into a 90-year-old woman by the Witch of the Waste. On a quest to break the curse, the elderly Sophie takes refuge in a moving castle owned by a charismatic wizard named Howl.

From this, it sounds like the staff were made to work too hard, and considering what Miyazaki's like in his ideological perspective, that can be a bad thing, even if he later paid the guy extra. And as for Howl's Moving Castle, I didn't find it particularly impressive, apart from maybe the animation visuals for the castle itself, which were pretty good for their time. But the story didn't amount to much at all, and I couldn't get into it.

How does the animation process for a Hayao Miyazaki film differ from other animated projects you’ve worked on?

First of all, he is somebody who actually draws himself. From the layout to the storyboards — everything — he draws it himself. And let’s say a key animator has drawn some animation. If he doesn’t like it, then he will change it and draw a rough drawing. Then, the key animators and other animators have to bring that to the final stage.

Another is the way he thinks about animation. Other animation directors use animation to tell a story, but he tells the story through the animation. It’s all built into his storytelling.

Predictably, they won't get into the political and ideological drive of leftism that fuels Miyazaki's visions, and was certainly bad news in The Wind Rises. What's the point of these discussions if they don't have the courage to acknowledge Miyazaki's politics? As for Yamashita, here's something eyebrow raising:

What was your favorite scene to animate? And was there was a particular scene that was difficult to work on?

Of course, the whole thing was rather difficult. It took a lot of work, but it was also very interesting and fun. The one scene that I feel really worked well was one that showed how Howl was kind of a sexy character. And it’s the scene where, after Sophie enters the castle, and the next morning, Howl returns and comes right up to Sophie — very close to her — and says, “Who are you?” At that point, I had drawn a rough sketch with the movement, and I showed it to Mr. Miyazaki. There should have been more development and growth to that scene, but he said, “No, this is fine. This is good,” and, “We can move on to the next scene.” So that’s a scene where Howl is in profile, and I thought that worked really well, and I was very glad that it worked out well. It showed a different aspect of Howl — that he was a very attractive, sexy person.

What about your favorite character to animate?

Probably Howl because he is a handsome man and very attractive, but in terms of his inner self, he’s not that attractive. There are many people who are really good at their work and at their job, and they outwardly present a really fantastic image. But when they get home, they’re just slobs and sloppy, and they’re not really somebody you would look up to. So, that kind of duality interests me. The Witch of the Waste is also like that — she has this two-sidedness that also attracts me.

I wonder if he and they would use that kind of description for a woman, or one who's on the good side? As I recall, of course, it takes a while until Sophie can get some of her youth back, since IIRC, that seemed to be the case by the end of the film, though her hair still looked white. But if you don't see many examples today of younger women being described as "sexy", and "attractive", that's the sad effect of wokeness in motion nowadays, and Yamashita decidedly isn't helping if he adheres to PC as well.

There also appears to be more dialogue with Yamashita at Polygon:

“Of course characters change, their costumes change, their hairstyle changes. But in the case of Sophie, her age changes depending on her feelings,” Yamashita tells Polygon.

The problem was ultimately solved with a Miyazaki brainblast: “He says, I found the formula method for why Sophie changes,” Yamashita remembers. “She [Sophie] strengthened that curse in the film.

“And because of that, the way she reacted to other people, the way she had relationships, that was different as well. So when I realized that, then I realized I could draw Sophie in the way she was from this change, even within a scene.”

Gee, if she strengthened the curse, isn't that bad? Worse is any left-wing anti-war metaphors occurring in the film. Naturally, neither Yamashita nor Polygon will actually discuss any of that.

“I saw it last year when it was broadcast on television, and I happened to catch it partway through. And then it was so interesting that I watched until the end,” Yamashita laughs. “In a strange way, Howl’s Moving Castle is a difficult film to understand, so it’s hard to understand it if you just see it once. [...] Even I, in seeing it again, have new discoveries about the film.”

Oh, that's very funny. When I saw it in past years, I didn't get much of any understanding out of it, except for any left-wing metaphors, and that has to be one of the biggest problems with the movie - that's probably all it was written up for. And why these leftist news sites keep lionizing Miyazaki, and now Yamashita as well. As I once said, there are some films by Miyazaki that're more palatable, but Howl's Moving Castle was not one of them. It's really just a weak example of a film overtaken by needless and absurd anti-war metaphors.

Labels: Europe and Asia, history, manga and anime, msm propaganda, politics

Variety reports the new Joker film sequel has gotten one of the lowest ratings to date that could be expected for a comics-based adaptation:

“Joker: Folie à Deux” is falling flat after earning a “D” CinemaScore, the lowest grade ever from the research firm for a comic book movie.

The previous record holder was 2015’s “Fantastic Four,” which received a “C-” CinemaScore . Meanwhile, “Folie à Deux’s” predecessor, the 2019 original “Joker” from director Todd Phillips, earned a “B+” grade through the research firm’s survey of early crowds.

Well the first film really shouldn't have been supported, based on the whole emphasis of villainy that's come at the expense of heroism. As I'd once pointed out before, Hollywood's romanticization of the kind of evil the Clown Prince of Crime represents is a bad omen, and this sequel is only perpetuating the crisis. Here's what Forbes has to say:

...the general consensus is that A) it did not need to be made, B) it is boring, C) the musical numbers are too frequent and not good and D) absolutely everyone hates the ending.

The film has caused current DC leadership like James Gunn to distance from the project, reminding people that it is not a DC Studios offering, but from Warner Bros. which is different. Director Todd Philips, who has been raked over the coals for this sequel, has said he’s done with DC and is moving on.

We are still waiting for the final box office weekend totals here, but it looks like the movie may debut with a quarter of the original’s numbers despite a budget that is four times in the original. It remains to be seen if it can crawl to become a financial success long term, but in terms of audience reception, it literally could not get worse.

As a film starring villains, it's another poor example Hollywood's setting up. Luckily, as Breitbart's just reported, a movie that may have cost a pretty penny is beginning to tank:

In a turn of events that only Arthur Fleck would find funny, the follow-up to Todd Phillips’ 2019 origin story about the Batman villain opened in theaters nationwide this weekend to a muted $40 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, less than half that of its predecessor. The collapse was swift and has many in the industry wondering: How did the highly anticipated sequel to an Oscar-winning, billion-dollar film with the same creative team go wrong? [...]

“Joker: Folie à Deux” cost at least twice as much as the first film to produce, though reported figures vary at exactly how pricey it was to make. Phillips told Variety that it was less than the reported $200 million; Others have it pegged at $190 million. Warner Bros. released the film in 4,102 locations in North America. About 12.5% of its domestic total came from 415 IMAX screens.

If that means it's being screened in 3D, that makes it even worse. We could sure do without that kind of technology here.

Most interesting is that here, we have yet another live action DC production that puts Harley Quinn to poor use. Slash Film gave some history of how she was first created:

Harley's devotion to the clown prince never faltered, even when he was relentlessly cruel to her, repeatedly fed her to hyenas, physically assaulted her, and otherwise treated her like an object devoid of personhood. Every time Harley came close to acknowledging this abuse, which can be very complex and difficult for an abuse victim, Joker would manage to manipulate her with ease, as best exemplified in "Gotham City Sirens," where only a few faux-sweet words detract Harley from exacting revenge on him. The intent of these arcs has always been to highlight how unsavory and dangerous this push-and-pull dynamic has become, where one of Gotham's brightest minds falls prey to the noxious, manufactured charm of a methodical monster who uses her trauma to further his agendas.

However, as Harley became more fleshed out as a nuanced character in her own right — namely in "Mad Love," where we get her origin story — a need for her to reclaim her personhood was immensely felt. Her romantic relationship with Poison Ivy evolved into the key for her to break free of this abusive cycle with the Joker, and this was realized in myriad ways in various versions of her arc. 2016's "Suicide Squad" sets the foundation for her eventual self-reclamation (albeit in the most confusingly shallow manner), which culminates rather beautifully in "Birds of Prey," a film that allows Harley to be her most authentic self without Joker's shadow looming over her.

Does Todd Phillip's "Joker: Folie à Deux" follow the same path? On the contrary: The sequel to "Joker" completely rebrands and recontextualizes Harley's (an underutilized Lady Gaga) relationship with Arthur/Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) to complex, messy ends.

I just don't understand how anybody doesn't see HQ's origin and premise as problematic. Or why a character who may have appeared in less than 10 episodes of the original cartoon on TV somehow becomes a huge commodity overnight. Goodness knows there's only so many minor characters who've had overblown franchises built and centered around them, or maybe more specifically, the costumes they wore? It's long become pure theater of the absurd, and we could do without all this kind of approach whose worst flaw is that it's not merit-based. If memory serves, Poison Ivy, originally created in 1966, only became more a lesbian around the turn of the century when suddenly, they began doing this as part of early wokeness. (Of course, one can only wonder if a gay male couple would be characterized as crooks like Ivy and Quinn are.) And it's only served to dilute whatever potential they've ever had ever further.

Will the impending failure of the Joker sequel discourage movies about villains, if not comics adaptations themselves? Well let's hope so, because even the Venom movies are far too much. Maybe what this proves, above all, is that the Batman franchise got way out of hand, and we could do with less of those too.

Labels: Batman, dc comics, golden calf of death, golden calf of LGBT, golden calf of villainy, history, msm propaganda, sales

Games Industry says Devolver Digital corporation is launching a new label for adapting comics and film:

Devolver Digital has formed a new games publishing label devoted to indie games that are based on movie, TV, comic book and other entertainment IP.

The new label is made up of the Good Shepherd team, which Devolver acquired back in 2021. Good Shepherd had already published indie games based on other brands, namely 2019's John Wick Hex (by Bithell Games) and 2023's Hellboy Web of the Wyrd (by Upstream Games), and this will now be the team's focus going forward.

[...] "I love adaptation," Kruse told GamesIndustry.biz. "So when we were trying to figure out what we specialise in... we are part of Devolver now, but we don't want to be Devolver 2. Nobody can be. They're so cool and original. How can we separate ourselves? So I was excited to pitch 'let's do adaptations.' Because that is what is exciting for us and most of our team."

But don't original IPs also carry excitement? There was once a time when the prospect of adapting comics to video games was exciting, and I do vaguely recall one of the earliest based on Popeye from 1982 by Nintendo, made at the time Pac-Man was influential. But if they're adapting mainstream comics, chances are high the project will turn out woke, and that's why it's hard to care. The same goes for movie and TV adaptations. On which note:

Kruse says the model where an IP owner goes to a developer and requests a pitch doesn't always lead to the best results.

Well neither does the management at today's Marvel/DC. But who knows, maybe video games based on creator-owned comics do have potential. They just need to make clearer whether they'll actually look around for any. Even then, merchandise shouldn't replace the original comics.

"There is an art to adaptation," Kruse adds. "If you haven't done a lot of it, there are all these little pieces that you can do that you might not have realised would be possible. Even this morning we had a huge call about licensing clips, and there are associated union things that go into that. Not everybody knows that we do all that stuff. Some of it is relationships, but some of it is about being able to block and tackle for the developers, and take as much as the stress of the process off of them as possible."

Of course there can be art in adapting. But that depends on if you can make an entertaining product without any PC involved, and produce it in a way that's faithful to the original comics, and even films. And I don't trust mainstream publishers to be faithful to the source material, nor do I expect the video game producers to retain creative freedom to turn out something that could be worthy without PC interference involved. Today's video game industry also isn't what it used to be either, any more than the comics, and if Marvel/DC adaptations turn out to be as awful as a recent Suicide Squad game was, or even a recent Spider-Man game, that's one more reason why games don't make a good substitute for the original comics.

Labels: dc comics, indie publishers, licensed products, marvel comics, msm propaganda, technology

NH Business Review reports about a communications specialist who's producing a crowdfunded sci-fi comic that's supposed to deal with issues like immigration:

Communications professional Ryan Lessard, of Manchester, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a sci-fi adventure comic series with themes that touch on immigration/citizenship, democracy and the need for a free press to combat misinformation.

Lessard began writing the series in 2012 when he noticed the political discourse rocking the U.S.

“When I worked as a journalist for 10 years, I saw it as my civic duty to combat lies with facts, to report the truth with fairness, and to disinfect our toxic politics with indiscriminating sunlight,” he told NH Business Review in an email. “Telling the story of Saras Vedi, an alien journalist working for a futuristic news agency, I wanted to … present a morality play of our modern anxieties with metaphor, while also giving a positive representation to a journalist and a refugee trying to earn her citizenship.”

With Lessard at the helm of the series with a writing credit, he also collaborated with international and domestic artists — including Javi Laparra, an artist from Guatemala; Luiz Zavala, a colorist from Mexico; and Adam Wollet, a letterer from Florida — to bring the story of “Sentinel” to life.

“Too often, journalists are represented in various media as unscrupulous vultures, and that stereotype has seriously hurt the public trust in the free press,” Lessard wrote. “I also wanted to show what it is like for some refugees and immigrants who are seeking asylum or citizenship in a land that is foreign to them because they’re escaping dire and dangerous circumstances — a fact often lost in the public discourse around immigration in the U.S.”

I'm guessing this guy's not a fan of Stan Lee's vision with J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man, nor Marv Wolfman's with Bethany Snow in New Teen Titans. In any event, what makes this so unimpressive is the guy's refusal to take a balanced vision that recognizes there's journalists who can do bad, very evil things, just like there are those can do good things. If he's not willing to take an approach that's critical of left-wing journalists who've done bad things, and how they have blame to shoulder for the negative image of the press these days, that's the problem.

And is this guy aware much of the mass, uncontrolled immigration into the USA and elsewhere has led to criminals like rapists and Islamic terrorists gaining footholds? Interestingly enough, I do notice the premise of Sentinel is that the star team of the comic are on a mission to stop a terrorist. But if it turns out he doesn't have the courage to confront serious issues like Islamic terrorism, metaphorically or otherwise, then this comic is pointless.

If men like Mr. Lessard who've worked in press reporting were really serious, they'd take issue with the bad apples who've damaged the public trust in journalism. Failing to consider those issues won't help even a comic dealing with the subjects Sentinel does.

Labels: indie publishers, islam and jihad, misogyny and racism, msm propaganda, politics, terrorism

Gizmodo says Sega corporation made a deal with DC to star the anthropomorphic cast of Sonic the Hedgehog in costumes of superheroes who comprise the Justice League:

Earlier today, Sega held a Sonic-centric livestream called Sonic Central, announcing new stuff coming from the blue blur. One surprising inclusion was the announcement that Sonic and DC Comics are collaborating on a Justice League comic book run due out in March 2025. [...]

According to Sonic chief brand and business officer Ivo Gerscovich, the Sonic x DC collab will “start off” with a five-issue monthly comic book run penned by writer Ian Flynn. Although the stream went out of its way to omit the artist behind the run, it wasn’t shy about showing off the DC hero-flavored designs of its Sonic characters. Rather than having the Sonic bunch work alongside the Justice League, the unnamed comic book will instead see them suit up as iconic superheroes. Key among them are Sonic as the Flash, Shadow as Batman, Amy as Wonder Woman, Silver as Green Lantern, and Tails as Cyborg.

It looks like Vic Stone's role is still being made out to look as though he were always a member of JL instead of Teen Titans. Well I won't be surprised if, despite the live action movie's failure several years back, DC's still intent on pushing through such a farce that did more harm than good for the Titans. And curious there's no mention here of Superman? What, is the Big Blue Boy Scout once again being sidelined in favor of Batman for the sake of PC? Considering Sonic himself is blue colored, you'd think he'd make a perfect parody for the Man of Steel, yet he dresses as the Flash instead?

In any event, I just don't see why these video game companies, or any other entertainment publishers, for that matter, still want to do these crossover projects with DC and Marvel, considering how bad they became for years already. There's long been comic adaptations of Sonic itself; aren't those enough? If Sega thinks this is going to actually draw attention to their famous anthropomorphs, or even give the League a boost, they're deluding themselves. This is certainly not going to convince anybody to buy the Justice League proper, since that title too, like many other DC series, fell into artistic decay long ago. I think it'd be best to just stick with Sonic merchandise that's unrelated to DC, or even Marvel.

Labels: Batman, dc comics, Flash, Green Lantern, Justice League of America, licensed products, msm propaganda, technology, Titans, Wonder Woman

John Nolte at Breitbart commented on what looks like the failure of the TV show Agatha All Along, and even the nude scene written up by the scriptwriters and the actress playing the role apparently didn't improve its chances:

Disney decided to publicize the Marvel streaming series Agatha All Along as the “gayest Marvel project” ever, one full of “gay explosions,” and guess what happened? No, go ahead, guess…

Headline: "Agatha All Along Ratings Crash Below Canceled The Acolyte On Disney Plus: Media Run with Misleading Numbers"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *deep breath* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

[...] Again and again, audiences have rejected at a 100 percent rate all this woke and gay crap, but these arrogant Hollywood propagandists continue to produce it. Worse, they deliberately alienate people by using the homosexual angle to publicize the show or movie. Why? Because they know it sucks and this gives them a way to blame their flop on homophobia.

You cannot rewire human nature. It can’t be done. An overwhelming number of people are straight and are therefore made uncomfortable by homosexuality. We are born this way, and it is not something we will ever get used to. Note, that I said we are made uncomfortable by “homosexuality” and not “homosexuals.” Gay characters are fine — as long as they are included organically and not as obvious tokens to appease the Woke Gestapo. Last week, I saw a pretty good horror movie called The Invitation (2015). The story is set in the Hollywood Hills, so it made sense for a male gay couple to be there. There was nothing sexual. The characters were well-rounded. Who cares if they were gay? I didn’t.

[...] In my defense, I have no issue with hot lesbians. I can watch that all day long … and have. Homophobic? Me? I don’t think so.

Personally, I'm just wondering when all the repetitive resorting to superhero-derived fare will wither away, because it's been long run into the ground, and hasn't bettered the chances of the comics proper, which are becoming very sadly reliant on wokeness themselves. This Agatha All Along show clearly was bound to become a thud all along, and the studio continues refusing to accept why.

All that aside, I'm also wondering when Hollywood will ever consider that maybe animation is a better avenue for comics adaptations. The only problem is, if that too winds up woke, then it won't work either.

Labels: golden calf of LGBT, marvel comics, misogyny and racism, moonbat writers, politics

Superhero Hype announced Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC will be featuring the image of Spider-Man in their festivities again:

A familiar figure will once again patrol the skies of New York City this Thanksgiving. Spider-Man, one of the most popular characters to figure in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, will appear for the first time in a decade as a new balloon. The new balloon is modeled on the designs of legendary artist John Romita Sr. [...]

Marvel Comics and Macy’s have a long history of partnering together for the annual parade. Obviously, as Marvel’s flagship hero, Spider-Man has played a key role in that partnership. The Web-Swinger first appeared in the parade in 1981 as actor Scott Leva walked the parade route and acrobatically posed for pictures. Spidey then got his balloon in 1987, which appeared annually until 1998.

A new balloon premiered in 2009. This one sported a more modern look based on the then-recent film adaptions. However, it was retired in 2014.

The problem that's likely been prevalent for longer than we think is that this may be based on the costume only, and Peter Parker's not an actual part of this whole parade, nor is Mary Jane Watson or any other cast member from Spidey's better days. I couldn't spot any mention of Peter Parker in the article, and what good is this whole arrangement if the guy who originally got stung by a radioactive spider in late 1962 is left out of the proceedings? It just gives a whole new meaning to the figure of speech "empty suit". Why, now that I think of it, the whole history of superhero comics in merchandise, and other forms of extended media, is surely awash with examples of classic characters being presented superficially, with no genuine emphasis on the men and women behind the masks. To be sure, the characters who wear masks and cowls are the ones far more favored by these events, since they don't have to advertise the fictional characters who're actually wearing the costumes. It makes it all so easy. Either way, it just makes clear what the problem is with recognizability of famous creations in wider society.

In addition, if Marvel editorial won't allow any reunion between Peter and Mary Jane, then this year's Thanksgiving won't be worth celebrating when it comes to comics. And no matter how the new Ultimate line's being handled, that's no substitute.

Labels: conventions, history, licensed products, marvel comics, msm propaganda, Spider-Man, women of marvel